THE CRUNCH
A new Star Wars: Battlefront game is reportedly in development at Respawn and DICE, according to multiple sources speaking to Variety. EA has not confirmed the project by name, but a memo to staff issued after the company laid off around 400 workers and closed BioWare did say the two studios would collaborate on a future project intended to "deliver a shooter portfolio that unlocks growth". The report lands after days of rumours that a third Battlefront was in the works, with Wardogs studio head Joe Brammer saying on X that DICE and Respawn were the teams involved.
The trail began with a rumour from Electronic Gaming Monthly, via Giant Bomb, that Disney had been looking for a studio to make Battlefront 3, with DICE and Bungie among the candidates. Brammer's response narrowed that to DICE and Respawn, and the Variety report now appears to bear that out.
There is history here. In 2022, EA was said to have cancelled several Star Wars projects, including a follow-up to Battlefront 2. That 2017 game launched to a mixed reception, largely because its loot boxes assigned random chance to functional characters and powers, prompting a backlash that reached regulators including the Belgian Gambling Commission and fed legislation treating loot boxes as gambling mechanics. DICE later removed loot boxes entirely and spent years turning the game's fortunes around before its final major update in 2020.
Battlefront 3 would also be the first entry in the series published since EA's $55bn leveraged buyout by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners in the summer.